GET OUT OF YEMEN WAR

February 5, 2017

WHY ARE WE AT WAR IN YEMEN? NO GOOD ANSWER.

Can anyone in the government tell us why we (the USA) are fighting in Yemen...spending money, killing innocents and being killed? There seems to be no valid answer for that question. From this perspective it looks like a "lose-lose" situation. Our intervention in Yemen is costly, in both blood and gold, and may tar our already sullied reputations by our complicity in war crimes committed by our Saudi Arabian allies. .

Yemen a desolate, desert-and mountainous-land sits on the very southern tip of the Arabian peninsula and borders the Red Sea. It has no oil. There are no American businesses or business interests to protect. The people are the poorest in all of the Middle East. The nation has been in political turmoil for decades. In the last few years the Houthi, a minority Shia sect have been fighting for recognition of their rights and status in a majority-Sunni nation. The Houthi are considered formidable fighters, tacticians and sharpshooters. Internecine fighting over the last few years resulted in the overthrew of a Sunni-led, pro-Saudi government. The Houthi fought valiantly and subsequently defeated the pro Saudi regime and occupied the capital city of Sanaa. They are alleged to be accepting military and financial aid from neighboring Iran, though they (and the Iranians) deny those accusations. Their religious affiliation, opposition to Saudi influence in Yemen's internal affairs and their religious and amicable association with Iran have all contributed to the animus of their powerful Saudi neighbor. The Saudis see the Houthis as a threat to their rule and their control over their own restive population. They have mounted a ferocious bombing campaign against the Houthis to dislodge this group from Sanaa and replace them with a Sunni, pro-Saudi government, more amenable to Saudi influence. These are all goals that have little to do with America or American interests or should they arouse our sympathy or support..

Foolishly, the former USA (Obama) Administration was drawn into this religious-based civil war on the side of the Saudis. The result of the American-aided--Saudi bombing campaign has been aerial attacks on hospitals, schools, graveyards, outdoor food markets, electrical installation and even port facilities where food and medical supplies are landed in this impoverished country. The targets are uniformly civilian in nature. The campaign has caused the deaths of some 10,000 Houthi, caused hundreds of thousands to become internal refugees and significantly contributed to the malnutrition of more than a million children in a country which is perpetually on the knife-edge of food shortages. The UN human rights commissioner has cited Saudi Arabia for "crimes against humanity" a term which includes war crimes. This is not a conflict that we should be supporting. But we are there spending millions upon millions of tax dollars ins support of Saudi Arabia.

The recent Navy Seal attack on a mountain village in central Yemen is another example of misplaced effort. That operation resulted in widespread destruction and heavy loss of Yemeni civilian lives, including women and children, the destruction of a $75 million dollar aircraft, and the sad death as a result of enemy fire of one of our brave Navy Seals, as well as the serious wounding of other Navy men. This failed attack underscores the financial costs these questionable military interventions incur. The actual expediture of each is probably in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Those outlays (especially in a nation which runs a @ $500 billion deficit each year) must be weighed against the benefits to our tax payers, our citizens and to the best return on our tax dollars for our nation. What are we doing there? Are these "enemies" any real threat to our nation? There seems to be little evidence of that. What have we gained by this failed military operation? On the "plus" side of the ledger we reportedly brought back a few charred and useless mobile phones and laptops. But each one cost us many tens of millions of dollars. Was this a good "business deal"? Not up to Trump standards, I would suspect.

In addition to the failed military operations the USA is supporting the Saudi Arabian bombing campaign in western Yemen. The actions of the Saudi Arabian coalition fighting the Houthi in Yemen is characterized by the UN as engaging in "international crime". We are part of and support this coalition to the tune of many hundreds of millions of dollars. These expenditures include aid to the Saudis in military logistics, intelligence, bombing targets, and the now infamous REFUELING OPERATIONS we conduct for the Saudis with our KC 135 Boeing Strato-tankers. These huge, and costly planes leave Inserlik, Turkey airport loaded with jet fuel, they fly to the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula where they hook up with Saudi Arabian fighter jets circling over Yemen bombing civilians targets. The US refueling operations permit the Saudi jets to hit more civilian target on each run. These infamous refuling operations have no doubt cased the lives of thousands of Houthi citcilians. They are costly both in geld and to our reputation. Perhaps the Saudis repay us. But the real danger here is more to our reputation and the possibility that the USA may be charged as an assessory in the WAR CRIMES charges that are sure to be leveled against Saudi Arabia for their actions in Yemen.

Do these sound like good investments for our scarce funds? Do they produce jobs for Americans? Can this money be more effectively spent? Why are we supporting likely war criminals?